Needham's Cricket Field still part of school building study

The School Committee agreed at a July 10 meeting to keep Cricket Field as an option for the expansion of the Hillside and Mitchell Elementary Schools.

Wei-Huan Chen

The School Committee agreed at a July 10 meeting to keep Cricket Field as an option for the expansion of the Hillside and Mitchell Elementary Schools.

With many obstacles yet to be addressed—such as state funding, jurisdiction of Cricket and DeFazio fields, wetlands conservation, traffic and swing space location —the committee’s goal to save the aging and overcrowded schools still has “no easy alternatives,” said George Kent, chairman of the Permanent Public Building Committee (PPBC).

“We need to keep all the options on the table,” said School Committee chair Heidi Black.

Superintendent Dan Gutekanst urged residents and town members to study a newly released final version of the expansion’s prefeasibility study while the window for state funding approaches in the fall. The Massachusetts State Board Authority will not review the study but a “statement of intent,” a less detailed document provided by the town outlining why Needham deserves state funding for a two-school expansion.

As at the previous two committee meetings, residents opposing the Cricket Field option packed the room in Broadmeadow Elementary School, wearing green t-shirts and holding signs that said “Save Cricket Field.”

However, a new group also attended the meeting. Representing Hillside parents, they were roughly the same size as Cricket supporters and equally well-equipped, with posters that said “We Love Hillside” and “Keep Needham’s Options Open.”

As a reaction to the organized and vocal opposition to the Cricket Field option that grew in the month since the field was first suggested by the prefeasibility study, school parents have started to meet, write letters and speak out against eliminating any alternatives before further research.

“My concern about removing an option is that it will derail the whole process,” said Hillside parent Liz Lee. “It’ll take years and years to go back on track.”

“By keeping Cricket on the table, it takes away energy and resources from looking at other solutions,” said Sue Owen, an organizer for the Cricket Field supporters.

The Parks and Recreation Commission, which governs Cricket Field, made a motion on June 11 to request that the School Committee take the field off of its prefeasibility study. The committee brought the final version of that prefeasibility study, which includes the Parks and Recreation Commission’s comments, before the Board of Selectmen on July 10.

“My fear is we’re losing focus by having this discussion center on Cricket,” said Selectmen Matthew Borrelli. “We need to have priority for Hillside at Hillside, Mitchell at Mitchell, [instead of] looking at a parcel that’s not in our jurisdiction.”

Selectman Dan Matthews agreed that using the existing Hillside site “is the right course.”

However, Board of Selectmen chair Jerry Wasserman and Selectman Moe Handel emphasized that it was too early to withdraw consideration of Cricket Field.

“When we use the term ‘on the table’ it implies that decisions have been made,” said Handel. “But I don’t see anything on the table like that. I just see people working in good faith to resolve a problem by considering a wide range of options.”

Gutekanst said he recently met with the MSBA and gave the board the two schools’ enrollment projections. When the process for the statement of intent opens sometime in October or November, he said, the School Committee will submit a request for funding for both schools as one project. However, the MSBA rarely funds projects involving more than one school, though it has done it before, said Gutekanst.

If the state accepts the committee’s statement of intent, the town will have 270 days to secure a feasibility study. If everything goes according to Gutekanst’s projected 4-5 year timeline, construction can begin in early 2017 and one of the new schools can open its doors for fall 2017.

During that period, residents both opposed to and in support of the Cricket Field option said they plan to continue fighting for the community’s best interests.

“I can’t give you any certainty for a while. But I can go back to Newman [Elementary School] and even Pollard [Middle School]. We had a lot of contention at Pollard,” said School Committee member Michael Greis of the committee’s past experience with new school buildings. “At the end of the day, we came together for a solution that was a lot of success. The hope is that we have a good track record for the town.”

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